In the prior art, many devices have been developed for filling containers with desired fluids. One of the greatest obstacles encountered in designing such devices pertains to maintaining a high level of accuracy in the volume of fluid dispensed into the container. Such volume control usually necessitates taking weight measurements of the container prior to, during and subsequent to the filling thereof with the fluid, and/or measuring the flow rate of the fluid as it is being dispensed into the container.
The problems typically associated with achieving a high accuracy level in the volume of fluid dispensed into the container are magnified when precise volume control is desired for viscus, quickly curing fluids such as paints. In most prior art paint dispensing devices, residual quantities of paint remain within the pumps, dispensing nozzles, flow lines and other components of the device when the device is deactivated. While the device is inactive, this residual paint typically dries, thus resulting in an accumulation of dried paint in the aforementioned components which steadily increases over time. Due to this increasing accumulation, the precise volume of the paint dispensed into the container is slightly altered with every fill cycle of the device. The present invention overcomes these and other problems associated with prior art paint dispensing devices by providing an apparatus which is adapted to fill a container with a precise volume of paint and continuously maintain a high accuracy level in the volume of paint dispensed into the container.